Attorneys might be biggest election victors

What others say

Who will be the big winners in this year's elections? More and more it appears that lawyers with political clients will claim the greatest victories, no matter who wins the ballot tallies.

As stories in this newspaper and others around the country have made evident, battalions of attorneys are massing in key battleground states, ready to file postelection lawsuits similar to those filed in Florida in 2000.

They will claim all manner of balloting problems from hanging chads to high-tech hijinks on behalf of their losing clients, whether they be presidential contenders or those seeking more modest political offices. ...

While that may be great news for the legions of lawyers involved in such cases, it will not ultimately benefit the American republic. It can do nothing but increase voter cynicism and ultimately contribute to the feeling that elections are an insiders' game where winners and losers will be determined in courtrooms long after the ballots are cast.